Poker strategy comes in all shapes and sizes. From those books that teach you specifics, such as winning your way to tournaments via satellites, to others that focus on tournament strategy as a whole. It takes all sorts.
There are few players quite so individual in poker than ‘The Great Dane’ or ‘The Madman’, or as you might already know him, Gus Hansen.
When Gus Hansen burst onto the scene, he became a huge success for a number of reasons combining at the right time and was perfectly aware of it. Intelligence, a brooding physical appeal to both men and women – the old adage about men wanting to be him and women wanting to be with him never rang truer until Patrik Antonius came along – and vast financial success all combined to make Hansen a poster boy for Full Tilt Poker.
While many in poker turned against FTP in time, not least for the events that led to Black Friday in the United States, Hansen always seemed untouched by any stain of controversy that would rest like a shadow on players such as Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson.
Written when Hansen was in his pomp, Every Hand Revealed not only breaks down some of Gus Hansen’s best plays but attempts to explain some of the methodology behind the Danish great’s decisions.
The book is full of insight, and while it skips over many of the entertaining stories that Hansen is famed for, it does lift the lid on what goes on behind Hansen’s thinking. Hansen’s career has always been one that is open to interpretation, such as the time he left a high profile poker tournament with just 16 players left because he heard about a high-stakes backgammon game going on in London. It wouldn’t have been so shocking if he hadn’t been chip leader when he left his seat.
Gus Hansen will always be a legend and if you’re a fan of his – as we have to say we are – then understanding what led to him making decisions at the table feels like a lot of fun. He may have crazy and fearless on the outside, his moves often looking super-aggressive, but at the time of him making them, they were, in their own way, revolutionary.
The set-up for the book is that you can go through Hansen’s famous Aussie Million win from 2007 where he won $1.2 million and outlasted a field of 748 players. There are plenty of tips in there too, and one which will make sure that you never hear yourself say ‘Well, I’d had no hands for two hours…’ ever again.
Gus Hansen can play great poker with any hole cards, and Every Hand Revealed may focus on the winning ones, but the greatest benefit it gives you is the confidence to play poker with any two cards.
Once voted one of the world’s sexiest men by People Magazine, Gus Hansen is a player who appeals to poker fans who love to play and want to hear about the dramatic hands where he turned trash like off-suit one-gappers into life-changing cards. The story of his victory will inspire you, and the background to his character explain the ‘madman’ behind the Great Dane.
